Elis Head to NCAA Regionals

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Eight members of the Yale men's fencing team will head to Chestnut Hill, Mass., for the Mar. 11 NCAA Northeast Regional Championships, held this year at Boston College.

With the dual-meet regular season at a close, the Bulldogs will begin their pursuit of NCAA National Championship success Sunday with the Regional Championships. The results of Sunday's competition, in conjunction with overall season results, will determine the qualifiers for the Mar. 22-25 National Championships.

"We haven't had the season we were hoping to have this year, but I think everyone is motivated to fence well following our disappointing finish at the Ivy Championships," said senior captain Shiv Kachru. "We have a group of very talented fencers, and my goal is to have six men qualify for the NCAA Championships, which is the maximum number possible."

Kachru added that although the NCAA National Championship is a difficult tournament to qualify for, the rigorous training of all of Yale's fencing should put them in good stead for the Regional qualifiers.

Fencers qualify to participate in the NCAA Regional Championship based on their record during the regular season. In order to qualify, a fencer needs to have fenced at least 21 bouts against at least nine different schools. Of all these regular season bouts, a fencer must have won at least 25 percent of them. A school in the Northeast Region may qualify any number of fencers, though it is only allowed to send up to three fencers per weapon to the competition, for a total of nine.